Battle of Carne IV

In just a few minutes, the battle had already been decided. Most of Gazef's men had already died, and the remaining ones were either incapacitated or were still fighting with the angels.

'Not good. I've depleted my strength with repeated use of [Sixfold Slash of Light], yet the angelic horde shows no signs of thinning. What's my next move?' Gazef pondered, his lip bitten in contemplation. Despite his formidable prowess, his continuous use of martial arts had taken its toll.

Had the number of angels been limited, he might have stood a chance, but reality proved harsher than expected. He wanted to end the battle, but he was at his wit's end and didn't have the strength to attack anymore.

His body bore numerous wounds, fresh blood streaming from cuts both on his flesh and from his mouth. His armor lay shattered in multiple places, and his sword showed signs of damage, with visible cracks marring its once pristine surface.

"The hunt has entered its final stages. Do not let him rest — order your angels to attack consecutively." The commander ordered his subordinates.

Even though Gazef desperately wanted a moment to recover, the angels surrounding him obeyed their masters. They mercilessly attacked him, one after the other.

Despite dodging some blows, Gazef's fatigue allowed an angel to strike him from behind, throwing him off balance. As he struggled to regain his footing, relentless attacks overwhelmed him, driving him closer to defeat. With each blow, his strength ebbed until he finally collapsed to the ground, defeated.

He struggled to rise again, but his body betrayed him. The angels' swords meant death for him.

"Now, finish him off, but do not send in one angel. Use them all to ensure he is dead."

Despite his trembling hands and the inability to lift his longsword, he refused to surrender. Gazef, no stranger to death on the battlefield, refused to accept such a dishonourable end.

"GAAHHHH! Don't look down on me!" He shouted with all the strength in his body.

"I refuse to die at the hands of the likes of you. You, who sends men to kill innocent villagers just to lure me in!"

Blood dribbled out the side of his mouth as Gazef rose to his feet. A man who should have been powerless to stand stood proudly, his presence's mighty force forcing back the angels that surrounded him.

"Haaa! Haaa-!"

Just getting to his feet had him panting heavily. His mind was a blur, and his body felt like it had turned to mud. But he could not lie down.

"I am the Warrior-Captain of the Re-Estize Kingdom! I am a man who loves and defends his country! How can I lose to bastards like you who stain my country with your footsteps—!?"

He was certain that Frankenstein and Rovan would protect the villagers, so all he had to do was cut down as many enemies as he could.

"You will die here because all you can do is babble that nonsense, Gazef Stronoff."

With a fierce glare, Gazef met the enemy commander's taunts head-on.

"If you had forsaken these villagers, you wouldn't be meeting your end here. Your life is worth more than a thousand of these peasants. If you truly care for your country, you'd have left them to perish."

"Our ideals will never align," he retorted defiantly. "Let's settle this!"

"You're wasting your effort. Once we're done with you, we'll slaughter the villagers you saved. Your actions only delay their inevitable demise."

Gazef chuckled, his smile defiant.

"What's so amusing?"

"You're the fool. In that village resides a man stronger than me. Trying to harm the villagers he protects is futile."

"Someone stronger than you? Boasting won't save you."

Gazef's smile remained, pondering the face Nigun would make when facing Frankenstein.

"Angels, kill Gazef Stronoff."

Wings moved, ready to strike, but then a voice echoed in the surroundings.

"Yare, yare, perhaps I should have helped you sooner. <Sanguine Barrage>!"

With those words, a massive magic circle appeared in the sky. In an instant, before anyone could react, hundreds of blood-red arrows rained down upon the angels.

An angel fell with each arrow's impact, and within ten seconds, all the angels lay destroyed.

Raizel had used a 6th-tier spell that allowed the caster to specify a target type. The arrows would then seek out only that specified target type. As a result, the arrows exclusively targeted angels.

"What?"

"How?"

"Impossible!"

The scripture members were stunned, having never witnessed such a spectacle. As their shock faded, they saw a figure in black armor floating in the sky.

'Such power... I've never seen anything like it. Just who is that?' Nigun, the leader of the scripture, stared at the floating figure, unease evident in his eyes.

Before long, the floating figure started descending toward the ground. As he landed, unease gripped the hearts of the scripture members.

The figure spread out its arm and spoke in a royal tone.

"Pleased to meet you, gentlemen of the Slane Theocracy. I am Frankenstein, but please call me Franken." Raizel removed his helmet as he spoke. He was a distance away from them, but the wind carried his voice over clearly.

His shoulder-length hair swayed in the air as his black eyes scrutinized the scripture members. He had chosen this look for his time in human territory, and he had already revealed it to Gazef.

'Man, this feels badass! Look at their faces; it's like they've seen the Grim Reaper. And somehow, I'm really enjoying their despair and fear.'

Raizel's plan was to instil fear and despair in the scripture members, prompting them to use any trump card they might have. This way, Raizel could accurately assess their threat level. Even if they managed to kill the Divine Avatar, Raizel wouldn't lose much other than the magic items the Divine Avatar was wearing.

Nigun didn't reply, so Raizel turned around and faced Gazef.

"You should head back to the village, Rovan is there in case of any emergency. <Greater Portal>"

Before Gazef could reply, a large portal opened beneath him and his men. They fell into it, and the portal teleported them all to the village.

While Raizel had his back turned toward Nigun, Nigun saw an opportunity to kill the mysterious man called Frankenstein. Seizing the chance, Nigun silently commanded the Principality Observation, floating nearby, to attack Frankenstein.

'Principality Observation, attack that man!'

Nigun was overwhelmed by fear and didn't stop to think why an arcane magic caster would land and confront them head-on. Typically, arcane magic casters would use spells like <Fly > to fly and attack the attackers from a distance.

Principality Observation obeyed his orders, unfurled its wings, and propelled itself forward with a mighty flap. This angel, known as the Principality of Observation, was clad in full body armor, wielding a mace in one hand and a round shield in the other. Its lower body was covered by a long skirt-like garment.

The Principality of Observation possessed formidable strength, surpassing even the Archangel Flames. However, due to its unique skill, it remained inactive in battle. True to its name, this angel could bolster the defence of its allies. Nevertheless, this enhancement ceased once the angel moved, making it prudent to keep it stationary for optimal effect.

As the angel approached Raizel from behind, it raised its mace, poised to strike. The setting sun cast the angel's shadow in the opposite direction of Raizel, obscuring it from his view and leaving him unaware of the impending attack.

The angel swung its mace downward, but before it could make contact with Raizel, it collided with an invisible barrier, halting its advance.

"Hahahahahaha! Did you think such a weak attack would be enough to finish me!" Raizel taunted, his voice echoing with derision. Slowly, he pivoted to face Nigun, locking eyes with him as a maniacal grin spread across his face.

Raizel also began to subconsciously exude his Cursed Aura, which instilled fear into everyone in the vicinity, including Nigun, who loudly gulped.

His forehead was covered in beads of sweat, his throat dry, and his mind worked in overdrive.

"He's a fiend!"

"Destroy him!"

The cries of the scripture members resounded, their fear driving them to action as they directed a barrage of spells against Raizel.

<Charm Person>, <Iron Hammer of Righteousness>, <Hold >, <Fire Rain>, <Emerald Sarcophagus>, <Holy Ray>, <Shockwave >, <Confusion >, <Charge of Stalagmite>, <Open Wounds>, <Poison >, <Fear >, <Word of Curse>, <Blindness >.

All kinds of spells rained down on Raizel, yet he remained unmoving. While the torrent of spells were raining down on him, Principality Observation still attacked him with its mace.

'So my magic resistance is also working; that's good to know.' Raizel reflected as he saw different spells hitting him, yet he felt nothing.

Raizel had a passive called High Tiered Magical Attack Nullification, which nullified the effects of any and all spells below the 6th tier.

"These are all familiar spells, but the real question is, how do you know spells from Yggdrasil?" Raizel spoke as he took a step toward them.

As he took the step, everyone else subconsciously took a step back.

Not only could he slaughter all their summoned angels in one move, but their spells were also incapable of harming him. Nigun felt like he was trapped in a nightmare.

A scream echoed as a man, realizing their magic was futile, grabbed a sling and loaded a bullet. Nigun hesitated, unsure of its effectiveness against Raizel, but took no action. The bullet sped towards his head.

But before it could connect with his head, it collided with an invisible barrier and shattered into many pieces.

"Yare, yare, maybe I should retaliate a bit as well," Raizel mused, extending his hand towards the incoming mace and seizing it effortlessly.

"What!"

"Impossible! He could stop that attack with his bare hands!"

"What kind of monster is he?"

Every single scripture member shouted such things because it was unheard of for a magic caster to exhibit such strength.

'By the Six, how can he have such strength while being a magic caster?!' Nigun shouted in his head and tightened his grip on his bag, which contained his trump card.

Raizel then raised his finger, pointed it toward the angel, and cast a spell.

"<Abyssal Arrow>"

A small black arrow manifested before it sped toward the angel, striking it in the head and killing it in one attack.

"In one hit? Am I dreaming?" Nigun subconsciously muttered, but Raizel managed to hear him because of his high stats.

"No, you are not dreaming; this is reality," Raizel spoke while extending his arms and grinning maniacally.

'I wish Ulbert was here with me; we'd have so much fun.' Raizel reflected on his past and his Chunni friend.

'~Sigh~ Too bad they all abandoned me. If someone had come online at that time, would they have also been teleported to this world?'

"Impossible! How can you kill it with a single spell?" Nigun's outraged shout interrupted Raizel's reverie.

"Why do you think it is impossible?" Raizel questioned Nigun with a hint of pride. However, before Nigun could reply, Raizel continued.

"It was just a 4th-tier summon; I could easily kill hundreds of them." Raizel intensified his Cursed Aura while he spoke.

Nigun could not dispute Raizel's arrogance because he had already seen enough to reach a conclusion.

'That is a monster beyond my wildest imaginings. I could never hope to defeat it.'

"Cap-Captain, what, what should we do...?"

"Figure it out yourself! I'm not your mother!"

Nigun only managed to calm down after he could no longer see Raizel's face.

Losing his cool before an unknown monster like this was very bad.

'No, wait! I still have that!'

To be continued...

A/N: I'll be aiming for more consistency from now on, with plans to upload a chapter every other day.

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